March 28, 2011

White-cheeked Starling

The White-cheeked or Grey Starling (new name Poliopsar cineraceus, old name Sturnus cineraceus) is a rather common breeding visitor to northern Mongolia. For example, it can easily be observed in the region around Ulaanbaatar. Often rather large flocks gather at the famous “UB Ponds” (Omchij nuur).

Purevsuren Tsolmonjav took these photos of a migrant in an area with some Siberian ElmUlmus pumila trees in the South Gobi Province on 27 March 2011.

March 23, 2011

ULAN BATOR, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government had revoked a decision it made earlier this month to allow foreigners to hunt leopards for scientific purpose, local media reported Wednesday.

Mongolian Environment and Tourism Minister L. Gansukh cancelled the permission to kill four leopards for scientific purpose this year, after meeting researchers and representatives of non-government organizations to discuss the issue.

The researchers opposed the decision made by the cabinet on March 2. They said genetic research and other modern technologies made it possible to do scientific research without killing the highly endangered species.

The decision to allow four leopards to be hunted incurred opposition worldwide. Snow Leopard Network, a major organization aimed at protecting the species, sent a written appeal to the government, urging it to reverse its decision.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement which entered into force in 1975 to protect wild animals and plants, has listed the snow leopard as one of species threatened with extinction which are or may be affected by trade.

Snow leopards normally live between 3,000 and 5,500 meters above sea level in the rocky mountain ranges of Central Asia. According to a survey conducted in 2009 and 2010, there are more than 1,200 leopards in Mongolia.

March 22, 2011

Snow Leopardsto be hunted in Mongolia!?

The Mongolian Government has recently proposed the legal hunting of up to four – and possibly many more – Snow Leopards in 2011, for “research”.

Sign this petition and join with Pantherain pledging your support for Snow Leopards, and telling the Mongolian government that all information required to conserve these cats is obtainable through non-lethal means.

Today 3,500–7,000 Snow Leopards remain across 12 range states in Asia. They are listed as Endangered and are in decline in many parts of their range.

Panthera and our partner, the Snow Leopard Trust, are conducting the longest and largest ever Snow Leopard study, located in the Tost mountains in Mongolia. Our combined efforts are resulting in the most data ever collected on this rare and elusive species; and these data are being used to help better protect Snow Leopards long into the future. Hunting endangered Snow Leopards will in no way aid research efforts.

Those who have worked with the Mongolian Government to establish and implement sound biodiversity conservation policies have been deeply shocked and disappointed to hear of these plans.

Click here to read the letter by Panthera’s Snow Leopard experts Dr. George Schaller and Dr. Tom McCarthy to the Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism requesting that the decision to permit the hunting of Snow Leopards be reconsidered.

March 18, 2011

A Whooper Swan marked with the blue neck collar “OT51” by a Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia–Mongolian Academy of Sciences team at Airag Lake (48°54’ N, 93°23’ E) in western Mongolia on 29 July 2010 has been photographed in Xinjiang, western China on 13 March 2011. The information came from Mr. Jiansheng Liu and Mr. Jie Xu , who saw the swan together with about 100 other swans at Moguhu Lake (44°26’54.69 N, 85°54’26.98, altitude 391 m). Moguhu Lake is a waste lake near the big city of Shihezi.

This information was communicated by Prof. Ma Ming from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Many thanks to Prof. Ma Ming and the observers, Mr. Jiansheng Liu and Mr. Jie Xu.You can learn more about our waterbird marking efforts from the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia website.

March 9, 2011

The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds

An America field guide: useful for birding in Mongolia?

Why a review of an America field guide on a blog about birds in Mongolia? There are two main reasons:1. The Crossley ID Guide from Princeton University Press covers 115 species occurring in Mongolia (c. 25% of the country total), including 25 species of waders (shorebirds) alone.2. The Crossley ID Guide uses a radical new approach for a field guide (more about this below), resulting in the presentation of 10,000 photos!So, what is so special about it? Each plate of the guide is a lifelike “scene”, a piece of photographed habitat that has been composed (“photoshopped” photomontages) of a large numbers of photographic colour images of a single species seen from multiple angles and distances, with birds shown in various plumages and behaviours, resting on land, swimming, and flying. The total number of plates (= species) is 640! While a few plates look a bit kitschy to me, most are rather pleasing lifelike.

Sample page from The Crossley ID Guide: Osprey

One example for a species breeding in Mongolia: On the Gull-billed Tern plate, resting birds shown include an adult in non-breeding plumage, an adult in breeding plumage, a fully grown juvenile, and two more adults resting in breeding habitat. In flight a distant juvenile and a distant bird in its first summer plumage + 6 more birds are shown. The scenes capture the birds as one would see them in reality, contrary to most other field guides, which present birds in an idealised style. Thus The Crossley ID Guide won’t replace traditional identification guides. But studying the scenes will certainly help to prepare for the field, or to appreciate what one has just encountered outdoors.

Sample page from The Crossley ID Guide: Black Scoter

The Crossley ID Guide is probably a book no one will take into the field in Mongolia. It’s a huge tome, measuring 25 x 19 x 3.5 cm and weighting impressing 1.6 kilos. However, at just US$ 35 cover price (already available for US$ 21 at Amazon.com) it is definitely very good value for your money. I wish I had a copy when I was living in Mongolia—it would have been really diverting during the fiercely cold winter days and the dust storm periods in spring!The associated website: click here

If you are interested: a throughout review (and links pointing to more reviews) can be found at: 10,000 Birds.

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BIRDING MONGOLIA covers any topic concerning wild birds in Mongolia: conservation, migration, observations, identification, projects, events etc. Contributions on other aspects of Mongolia’s natural heritage, as well as information from regions bordering Mongolia, are also featured from time to time.

Axel Bräunlich

I have been birding in Mongolia since 1995. Birding Mongolia was originally set up in March 2007, providing information on the fabulous birdlife (especially migration) at my local patch in Khovd, near the Altai Mountains in the west of the country, where I lived from 2005 to 2007. The blog grew rapidly, with contributions coming from more and more observers, and covering other parts of Mongolia, too.

Andreas Buchheim

I have been visiting Mongolia since 2004. It all started with gull research trips, but I now come to Mongolia at least twice a year, staying for about 6 months annually since 2010, not only for the continuing gull research but now mainly to be with my Mongolian wife and our son and to go birding. As a quasi resident of Ulaanbaatar, I do most of my birding around the city during winter but, luckily, I can visit the even more fascinating rural regions of this rapidly changing country during the warmer seasons.

Contributions (observations, photos, news etc) are very welcome! Any material contributed will be acknowledged and the copyright will remain with the author(s).

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